Mesoscale modeling of water penetration into concrete by capillary absorption

Water penetration into concrete by capillary absorption plays a very important role in the ingress of contaminative substances when the structures are built in aggressive environments. In the present paper the lattice network model is proposed based on the unsaturated flow theory to predict the water penetration into concrete. On the mesocale level, concrete is treated as a three-phase composite. By means of the Voronoi diagram meshing strategy, the lattice network model of concrete with different types of lattice elements is developed. The corresponding transport properties are assigned to the lattice elements in the network falling in different phases. As a result, the lattice elements are idealized as conductive “pipes” in which uni-directional flow can be realized between the two nodes of the elements. Parameters in the lattice network model, such as the sorptivity and porosity of the mortar and the ITZs are quantitatively determined. With help of the approach, the water content distribution within a concrete sample after any elapsed time, especially the penetration depth of water frontier, can be easily predicted. The cumulative water absorption calculated by the lattice network model is shown to be well agreed with the experimental results.     

Assessment of shallow groundwater in Lake Nyos catchment (Cameroon,Central-Africa): implications for hydrogeochemical controls and uses

In 1986, carbon dioxide gas exploded from Lake Nyos and killed about 1,800 people. After that disaster, various administrative and research activities have been conducted to mitigate subsequent disasters. However, none of those endeavors have characterized the groundwater chemistry to identify hydrogeochemical processes that control the water chemistry, and the quality of the water for domestic and agricultural uses that support the lives of un-official resettlers around Lake Nyos. Conventional hydrochemical techniques coupled with statistical and graphical analysis were therefore employed to establish the baseline hydrochemical conditions, assess processes controlling solutes distribution in shallow groundwater in the Lake Nyos catchment and explore its usability. Groundwater samples were analyzed for their physical and chemical properties. The wide ranges of electrical conductivity and total dissolved solid values reveal the heterogeneous distribution of groundwater within the watershed. The relative abundance of major dissolved species was Ca > Mg > Na > K for cations and HCO₃ >>> Cl > SO₄ > NO₃ for anions. Piper diagram classified almost all water samples into mixed CaMg–HCO₃ water type. Major ion geochemistry reveals that, in addition to silicates weathering (water–rock interaction), ion exchange processes regulate the groundwater chemistry. Principal component analysis supports the occurrence of water rock interaction. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the chemistry of groundwater in the study area is controlled by three main factors, and suggests no hydraulic connectivity between deep lake water and groundwater in the catchment. The quality assessment of the groundwater showed that groundwater parameters are within the acceptable limit of the World Health Organization and Nigeria guidelines for drinking and domestic uses, and water found to be good for irrigation.     

A GC×GC-ToFMS Investigation of the Unresolved Complex Mixture and Associated Biomarkers in Biodegraded Petroleum

Heavy biodegraded crude oils have larger numbers of coeluting compounds than non-biodegraded oils, and they are typically not resolved with conventional gas chromatography (GC). This unresolved complex mixture (UCM) has been investigated using comprehensive two- dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-ToFMS) within a set of biodegraded petroleums derived from distinct sedimentary basins, including northwestern Sichuan (Neoproterozoic, marine), Tarim (Early Paleozoic, marine), Bohai Bay (Eocene, saline/brackish) and Pearl River Mouth (Eocene, freshwater). In general, the hydrocarbons that constitute the UCM in petroleum saturate fractions can be classified into three catalogues based on the distributions of resolved compounds on two dimensional chromatograms. Group 1 is composed mainly of normal and branched alkanes, isoprenoid alkanes and monocyclic alkanes; Group 2 comprises primarily terpanes ranging from two to five rings, and Group 3 is dominated by monoaromatic hydrocarbons such as tetralins and monoaromatic steranes. In addition, the UCM is source dependent and varies between oil populations. i.e., the UCM of petroleum derived from Precambrian and Early Paleozoic marine, Eocene saline/brackish and freshwater source rocks is specifically rich in higher homologues of A-norsteranes, series of 1,1,3-trimethyl-2-alkylcyclohexanes (carotenoid-derived alkanes), and tetralin and indane compounds, respectively.     

Radio imaging of the Subaru/XMM–Newton Deep Field – I. The 100-μJy catalogue, optical identifications, and the nature of the faint radio source population

We describe deep radio imaging at 1.4 GHz of the 1.3-deg² Subaru/ XMM–Newton Deep Field (SXDF), made with the Very Large Array in B and C configurations. We present a radio map of the entire field, and a catalogue of 505 sources covering 0.8 deg² to a peak flux density limit of 100 μJy. Robust optical identifications are provided for 90 per cent of the sources, and suggested identifications are presented for all but 14 (of which seven are optically blank, and seven are close to bright contaminating objects). We show that the optical properties of the radio sources do not change with flux density, suggesting that active galactic nuclei (AGN) continue to contribute significantly at faint flux densities. We test this assertion by cross-correlating our radio catalogue with the X-ray source catalogue and conclude that radio-quiet AGN become a significant population at flux densities below 300 μJy, and may dominate the population responsible for the flattening of the radio source counts if a significant fraction of them are Compton-thick.     

An upper limit of visible emission from the plume generated by the impact of the K fragment of SL9

We monitored Jupiter with a video movie camera attached to a 1.3 m reflector during the impact event of the K fragment of D/Shoemaker-Levy 9. The camera was sensitive to visible radiation. A plume, which was generated by the impact and prominent in infrared wavelength, was not detected. Jovian images with hypothetical plumes were synthesized to examine how luminous the plume should have been to be recognized. It has been revealed that the plume was no more than twice as bright as Io in visible wavelength.     

Simultaneous observations of meteors with the radar and TV systems

We have carried out a simultaneous observation of radar and optical meteors with the MU radar (Middle and Upper Atmosphere Radar), Shigaraki and TV camera systems. We usually obtained about 20 meteors per an hour with 85 mm lens, but very small part of them are simultaneously observed by the MU radar (< 5%), suggesting the significance of rectangular scatterring. We have analyzed about 20 simultaneous meteors with magnitudes from 0 to +5.5, most of which are overdense meteors. For Geminid meteors, a linear relation between the logarithm of the echo duration and the absolute magnitude of the TV meteor, was deduced.     

Television meteor radiant mapping

We have carried out double-station TV meteor observations between 1990 and 1994. The orbits of 326 meteors have been determined from doubly observed meteors, and radiant distributions are studied. The mean magnitude of the observed meteors was as faint as +4.7, since I.I. (Image Intensifier) and Video cameras were used. Radiants were widely distributed over the celestial sphere. The velocity distribution showed some similarity with the distribution predicted by the theoretical radiant distribution from comets rather than that from asteroids. In all 13 showers including both major and minor meteor showers were detected from radiant distributions of the observed meteors; from the orbital elements and meteor velocities as well as from the radiant directions.     

Tectonic accretion of a subducted intraoceanic remnant arc in Cretaceous Hokkaido, Japan, and implications for evolution of the Pacific northwest

Abstract   An accretionary complex, which contains fragments of a remnant island arc, was newly recognized in the Cretaceous accretionary terranes in Hokkaido, Japan. It consists of volcanics, volcanic conglomerate, intermediate to ultramafic intrusive rocks with island-arc affinity including boninitic rocks, accompanied by chert and deformed terrigenous turbidites. Compared with the results of modern oceanic surveys, the preserved sequence from island-arc volcanics to chert, via reworked volcanics, is indicative of intraoceanic remnant arc, because the sequence suggests an inactive arc isolated within a pelagic environment before its accretion. The age of a subducting oceanic crust can be discontinuous before and after a remnant-arc subduction, resulting in abrupt changes in accretion style and metamorphism, as seen in Cretaceous Hokkaido. Subduction of such an intraoceanic remnant arc suggests that the subducted oceanic plate in the Cretaceous was not an extensive oceanic plate like the Izanagi and/or Kula Plates as previously believed by many authors, but a marginal basin plate having an arc–back-arc system like the present-day Philippine Sea Plate.     

Type IIIb radio bursts: 80 MHz source position and theoretical model

We present Culgoora spectrograph and radioheliograph observations as well as a model of type IIIb bursts; the latter are defined as chains of striae of slow or no frequency drift, the chain as a whole drifting like a normal type III burst.The 80 MHz source positions are studied for a group of IIIb bursts, a IIIb precursor and harmonic pairs of 1:2 frequency ratio. It is found that the IIIb position may vary in a IIIb group. No significant difference was found between the source positions of a IIIb precursor and the following III burst. For one event we found that the fundamental IIIb burst showed a high degree of circular polarization (46%), while its second harmonic, a normal type III burst, was unpolarized.We suggest that the main cause for the striae in type IIIb bursts is the existence of filamentary, density irregularities along the path of the electron stream. The denser filaments initially reduce the value of the density gradient along the electrons' path and thereby enhance their emissions over a small range of plasma frequencies. If the radio emission from the filaments dominates the emission from the ambient rarified plasma, striae appear in the spectrum and a type IIIb burst results. This condition is more easily satisfied at the fundamental frequency and for electron streams of relatively high density.Radiophysics Publication RPP 1758, October, 1974, (2nd version).On leave from the Dept. of Astronomy, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.On leave from the Dept. of Astronomy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In situ</Emphasis> Enclosure Experiment Using a Benthic Chamber System to Assess the Effect of High Concentration of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> on Deep-Sea Benthic Communities

In order to evaluate the environmental impact associated with sequestration of carbon dioxide in the deep sea, a free fall type field experimental device, the benthic chamber, was developed. In situ experiments to expose deep-sea communities to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (average of 20,000 ppm, 5,000 ppm and control) were carried out using this device 3 times, viz., in the winter of 2002 and in the spring and the summer of 2003, in the Kumano Trough at a depth of 2,000 m. In the long-term experiments (about two weeks in winter of 2002 and summer of 2003), the abundance of meiobenthos declined whereas that of bacteria increased under the condition of 20,000 ppm carbon dioxide compared with the control. Among meiofauna, the abundance of foraminifers at the same concentration of carbon dioxide became less than the control even in the short-term (3 days in spring of 2003) experiment, suggesting that organisms with a calcium carbonate exoskeleton are more sensitive to the raised concentration of carbon dioxide. The respiration rate of the benthic community exposed to 20,000 ppm was lower in the early stage of the experiment than in the latter half, whereas it was opposite under the condition of 5,000 ppm. The increase of biological activity in the 20,000 ppm exposure group is probably due to an increase of bacteria adapted to high carbon dioxide concentrations. The present results suggest that the influence of carbon dioxide on the deep-sea benthic ecosystem does not follow a simple, linear relationship with concentration.